Scalable, Strong and Water-Stable Wood-Derived Bioplastic

Bioplastics derived from biomass are attractive replacement for petrochemical plastics due to biodegradability, renewability, and resource abundance. However, the inferior water stability and mechanical properties of most biomass-based bioplastics drastically impede their practical application. Here, a facile strategy is developed to synthesize a scalable, robust, water-stable, and UV-blocking bioplastic by in situ redistribution of natural rubber (NR) latex in wood structure. The wood-derived bioplastic is constructed of natural balsa and NR latex via a three-step process, involving delignification, in situ infiltration, densification and vulcanization simultaneously. The tight interaction between NR latex and cellulose endows the wood-derived bioplastic a compact structure, leading to the excellent mechanical strength and oxygen barrier property. The developed wood-derived bioplastic features a high tensile strength under dry conditions, 20 times higher than the natural balsa (180 MPa vs 7.5 MPa), and a significantly improved hydrostability. Specifically, the wood-derived bioplastic displays superior oxygen barrier property (OP value of ∼6.04 × 10-9 cm3 mm−2 day Pa), good biocompatibility and easy biodegradability, which can be easily biodegraded after 5 weeks in the soil due to its all-natural ingredients. These characteristics make wood-derived bioplastic a promising candidate to solve the environmental challenges brought by petroleum-based plastic.